I Don't Care, With You I Can't Go Wrong
by MC-GAR-IL
Summary: They say we're young and we don't know, we won't find out until we grow, well I don't know if all that's true 'cause you got me, and baby I got you no matter the universe, the place, the time, we got each other through and through
1. You owe me a new pair of shoes

**MC:** Hello there, this is my first time writing for this fandom and this pairing. I actually have an outline for a pretty long multi-chapter story on my computer but idk if I'll write it, plus I'm in the midst of a multi-chap for another fandom so instead here's a drabble.

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The clock on the wall read 2:45am, and on a normal day Joel would be grumbling about "bedtimes" and "good night's rest". But today was Friday and Ellie could give two shits about the time because right now she was playing-

Correction

She was fucking annihilating some random kid in Triple Phoenix online.

The day had slipped by in a blur of excitement, congratulations, food, and smiles. Finally school was out for the summer. But more than that, Ellie had finally graduated from middle school and was officially becoming a high school student. The whole day felt a little surreal to her and she was still kind of riding on a high from it all.

Pressing a combo of buttons Ellie made her character activate their finishing move Ellie couldn't stop the cheer of victory that slipped past her lips. Shelby poked her head up and looked at Ellie making sure she was okay. Ellie gently stroked the Dakota Shepherd behind the ear, smile still plastered on her face. Assured that the redhead was fine Shelby lay back down at the foot of the bed.

Stretching her arms over her head she allowed herself to relax into her bed, tiredness finally settling into her bones. She feels herself begin to doze off unable to find the energy to pull off her headset before her eyes were already shut. She was gently drifting off, right on the cusp of a deeper sleep when she heard a crash.

Bolting straight up and blinking her eyes blearily Ellie looked around her room confusion etched on her face. The clock now read 3:02am and the Triple Phoenix 'Victory' screen was still playing on loop. She slipped her headphones off her head and massaged her ear that started to ache a little. After a moment of listening out for another sound and hearing none Ellie was ready to lie back down sure she was just hearing things, but then there was another clatter that drifted from her open window. Shelby jumped up looked at the window and let out a low growl, Ellie was now more awake than she was two seconds ago. Shelby trotted over to the door and brought a paw up to scratch at the door.

"No way, we are _not_ going down there!"

Shelby whined

"For all we know it could be a crazy serial killer out there."

Shelby huffed and turned towards the door again

"Gah this is a terrible idea!" Ellie exclaimed as she got up from her bed and headed to her closet to pull on a pair of converse onto her bare feet. Before exiting the closet she pulled out her hockey stick and goalie mask. Turning back to her bedroom door she saw Shelby staring at her, "Pshh I'm not going out there unprepared." Ellie felt the need to defend herself from her dogs' judgmental stare as she slipped the mask over her face.

As soon as Ellie opened her bedroom door Shelby ran out and disappeared down the stairs. Ellie slowly creeped down the hallway and briefly considered waking up Joel or Sarah but quickly dismissed the idea telling herself that it was probably nothing. As soon as she hit the stairs she heard Shelby bark causing her to rush down the stairs. Peeking around the banister she didn't see Shelby in the living room, Ellie figured she must have gone through the dog door. Heart hammering she made her way to the door that led to the backyard. She snuck a look behind the blinds that covered he doors and quickly surveyed the area. Her eyes landed on Shelby who was sitting by the grill, but Ellie's attention was immediately taken by the figure that was sitting next to the dog slowly petting it. After a second glance Ellie felt a little better when she realized that the person seemed to be around her age and was thoroughly distracted by the dog that was eating up the attention of this new person. Ellie mutter 'traitor' under her breath before unlocking the door and quietly slipping outside into the backyard. As she approaches Shelby the figure, who she can now tell is a girl, is gently cooing at Shelby.

"Aw who's a pretty girl? You are, yes you are." The girls hand falls away from Shelby's ear and lands in the grass, "I wish I had a dog, especially one as cute as you. Can I let you in on a secret?" She leans in conspiratorially, "Dogs are great. Way better than people. Dogs don't drag you to a stupid party, let you get shitfaced and then abandon you for some girl who totally wasn't even into them. But whatever I'll kick his ass tomorrow." The girl leans back from the dog swaying a bit before flopping back onto the grass, arms and legs splayed out haphazardly.

During all thins Ellie had slowly lifted her mask up, grip on her hockey stick slackening a bit as a smile appeared on her face from the adorable display in front of her but quickly schools her features as she cautiously approaches. Any element of surprise she thought she had was blown by Shelby letting out a happy whine and trotting over to her. The mysterious girl opens her previously closed eyes, and, wow she's pretty… Ellie shakes those thoughts away as she stands over the girl a wry smile appearing on her freckled face.

"I'm pretty sure you have the wrong house, or do you make it a habit to trespass into others backyards and pet their dogs?" Ellie asks with a raised eyebrow

"Not usually, but maybe I should start if I get to bump into cute dogs with even _cuter_ owners." The girl looks up at her with glassy eyes and wiggling eyebrows and Ellie ignores the slight fluttering she feels in her tummy because she knows she's weak when it comes to pretty girls, especially ones that _compliment her_ , but this girl is still a stranger. And by the looks of it a very drunk stranger that's eyes have started to roam and Ellie feels her cheeks heat up because _is this girl seriously checking her out right now?_

"And I'm sure you're wayyy prettier up close but I'm pretty sure that if I try to get up right now I'd just fall on my ass anyway…"

"Well I'm pretty sure you don't want to stay out here, the sprinklers come on at like seven, and I'm pretty sure Joel wouldn't like seeing some _stranger_ lying in the backyard."

"Well _I'm_ pretty sure I don't have it in me to make it back home right now so I think I'll take my chances with this Joel guy." The girl replies blinking her eye blearily already looking like she's about to knock out.

Ellie sighs and clenches her fist as a thought passes through her mind, a very bad one that could get her into trouble, but she couldn't just leave this girl out here. So Ellie reaches her hand out to the girl who looks at her curiously and all Ellie can offer her is a shrug. After a few attempts the girl is on her feet, though not completely steady, and Ellie wonders how she managed to get over the fence that surrounded the backyard. Before they make it to the door the girl sways dangerously to the left but Ellie catches her around the waist and holds her up as much as possible. The girl gives her a thankful smile and Ellie's stomach flips at the sight. The girl is leaning on her so much that their faces are close enough that Ellie can smell the alcohol on her breath, and can almost count the eyelashes on the girls slowly blinking lids. They lean in a little closer, only an inch away from each other when Ellie sees the way the girls face curls up before she hunches over and spews her guts all over Ellie's shoes.

"That's fuckin' gross dude" Ellie whines, but the girl is too busy emptying her stomach to reply. When she finally finishes the girl sways backward and Ellie lets her fall on her ass. Carefully toeing her shoes off she leaves them in the pile of mush before she reaches out for the girl once more.

"Sorry" the girl whimpers pathetically, "I swear I usually handle my booze better than this."

"Whatever. You owe me a new pair of shoes."

They carefully make their way into the house and somehow make it up the stairs and into Ellie's room. Ellie carelessly deposits the girl onto her bed before slipping out the door and heading to the bathroom to snatch the waste basket from it. When Ellie returns the girl is already asleep with Shelby sleeping by her side. Ellie glares at her traitorous dog before she sets the waste basket next to the bed. Ellie yanks off the girls shoes and grabs a blanket and tucks the girl in.

Looking at her clock 3:32am glares back at her and Ellie groans' realizing this was probably the longest half hour of her life. After a second of debating the pro and cons of going downstairs to sleep on the couch she finally says fuck it and plops face first into her mattress never so grateful for having a large bed in her life.

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Riley awakes in a strange bed, a sense of panic fills her but as she goes to sit up the feeling is quickly replaced with nausea. She holds her tummy and groans as her head pounds. God, why the hell did she let Tino talk her into going to that party? Just thinking about the boy made her head pound and she vowed to knee him in the groin the next time she saw him. She looks around the unfamiliar room catching sight of the time, 7:15am; she curses her body for not letting her sleep in even when she feels like shit. Continuing her inspection she finally examines the bed and feels a brief sense of panic when she sees another girl lying beside her. She calms slightly when she realizes they are both still fully dressed. Memories of last night slowly creep back into her conscious and Riley groans as she flops back onto the bed. She totally made an ass out of herself last night.

Riley's stomach whirls but she knows she has nothing left to throw up. Unwilling to try to sneak out of a foreign house she decides to nudge the other girl awake and hope she had a plan on getting riley out of here. The girl groans and burrows further into her pillow reddish brown hair splayed out over her back. Riley nudges her once more and the girl tilts her head to the side, one green eye peeking at her and riley can't help but think how cute she looks.

"How are you even functioning right now?" the red-head sleep filled voice asked.

Riley shrugs, "I'm a natural morning person."

The red-head turns her head back into the pillow before she pushes herself up sitting with her back to Riley. The mysterious girl pushes her hair back and out of her face and ties it up in a ponytail with a hair band she had on her wrist. Riley admires the freckles the freckles that adorn the girls shoulder and upper back that was exposed by her tank top before she scolds herself for perving on people again. A bad habit she's trying to break. The girl finally turns and faces Riley who is distracted by the smattering of freckles on the girls face, so maybe she had a thing for freckles, sue her. She brought out of her musings by a hand being offered to her, she brings her own hand out giving the offered hand a loose shake.

"Ellie"

"Riley"

They both stare at each other for a moment hands still loosely clasped together before Ellie lightly coughs and retracts her hand, a light blush making its way onto her face.

"So Riley how'd you end up in my backyard?"

"My friend dragged me to a party, and then totally ditched me for some girl. I was kind of pissed at him so I might have lost count of how many shots I had, so I tried to walk home, but obviously I got lost. Next thing I know I'm stumbling into someone's yard and a dog is licking my face."

Riley shrugs and for a moment they're both quiet.

"I'm sorry about your shoes…"

"Yeah that was nasty, but that reminds me I have to get rid of them before Joel finds them." Ellie face scrunches up at the memory of her ruined converse. "I fully you to get me a replacement pair"

"Okay" then a smile appears on Riley's face, "Actually how about I get you a new pair of shoes and you accompany me to Sips as thanks for letting me crash here. We could grab a bite to eat, hang out, get to know each other.." Riley's confidence began to wane toward the end of her sentence.

"Like a… date?" Ellie squeaked out

"Uh, yeah, I mean if you want it to be?" _Smooth Riley, real smooth_

"Yeah, sure I'd love to" Ellie rushed out

Riley beamed at the girl before getting serious, "Great, but first things first, how do I get out of here without your parent totally killing me?"

Ellie gave her a mischievous smile and Riley knew she would not like this plan.

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 **MC:** Tumblr prompts give me so much life. The original prompt says person B is supposed to end up passed out on the couch but I decided to take some liberties. As you can see by the cheesy ass title and the cheesy content you guys just read, you've walked into a drabble series (yay~). Although I'll admit this is longer than a drabble but you guys get the idea. Anyways about that multi-chap Rellie fic, (it'll get there eventually, maybe, actually hmu if you wanna see the outline and adopt it otherwise it might take a while to get out) until then please enjoy the random drabble prompts I'll be uploading.


	2. If you fall I'll catch you, and maybe st

**Chapter title:** If you fall I'll catch you, and maybe steal your stuff too (stupid character limit, get on ao3's level fanfic)

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Ellie hated being the "new kid"; although it was inevitable being bounced around from foster home to foster home she never had the chance to really settle in one place. Sure it would be nice to stay one place for an entire school year, make friends that she wouldn't have to say goodbye to in three months, and god if she had to stand in front of the class one more time while the teacher introduced her she was going to crawl out of her skin.

But whatever, she pushed those wishes aside a long time ago, for now she would bide her time at this 'Joel' persons place, and keep her head down at school and wait to be shipped off to another foster home or, she shudders at the thought, another group home.

Shrugging her backpack onto her shoulder she makes her way from the principal's office headphones on her ears and locker info and schedule in hand. She sees kids milling about in the hall waiting for the homeroom bell and ducks her head any time looks like they were going to turn her way. Peeking out the corner of her eye she notes the numbers on each locker looking for the number 160.

 _210…_

 _200…_

 _190…_

 _180…_

And then suddenly she's falling. A small squeak escapes her throat as she lands face first onto the linoleum floor. Slightly disoriented she hears chuckling above her, getting her bearings again she pushes herself up and reaches for her book bag just to have it kicked out of her grasp contents slipping out of it. Ellie turns to glare at the offender and sees four guys standing in a half circle behind her. The tallest one laughs and begins to speak when he catches Ellie's eye.

"Aw poor new kid, you should be more careful you wouldn't want to hurt yourself."

Ellie bites her tongue reminding herself to not respond, she knew people like this were just looking for a reaction and honestly she could not afford another blow up like what happened at her last school (which she thinks was blown out of proportion, she didn't mean to stab that kid with her compass he shouldn't have invaded her personal space like that, in her opinion it was self defense). So she just reaches out to retrieve a notebook but her hand freezes in midair when a foot comes down onto of the book.

"Hey new kid, didn't you're parents teach you to speak when you're spoken to?"

Ellie feels her fist clench ready to swing, a harsh retort on the tip of her tongue ready to spit venom in the boys' face when a loud voice echoed in the hallway.

"Hey Crawford why don't you and your goons piss off, it's early and your stupidity is giving me a headache."

Crawford scoffs, "This doesn't concern you Abel"

Riley takes a menacing step forward, "Why don't you just get out of here before I knee you so hard in your balls your future kids will say ow."

They both stare at each other for a long moment and Ellie isn't sure who to keep her eyes on, but eventually Crawford turns away and scurries off down the hall. Riley lets out a chuckle and tugs on the lapels of her leather jacket, "That's what I thought" she says under her breath. Riley turns to Ellie and smiles, "You good? Crawford is a dick but his bark is worse than his bite."

Ellie mumbles a "fine" under her breath before averting her gaze from this girl. Just one look and Ellie could tell this girl was super pretty, honey eyes, tan skin, inviting smile, plus she's sort of a badass (she's even wearing a leather jacket for god's sake!)

Being the awkward lump she always was around pretty girls with nice smiles Ellie quickly started to gather her scattered belongings. As she reached for the notebook that Crawford had stepped on her hand brushed over another warm one. Flinching back she sees Riley pick it up and pile it with a small pile of papers that were also Ellie's.

Slowly getting up and grabbing her book bag along the way she finally looks at the girl in front of her again seeing that her smile was still in place and Ellie returned with her own tightlipped one.

"Thanks…"

"No problem, I'm sure Crawford is gonna have a stick up his ass about this for a while but I'm sure you'll be fine, just find some friends and stick with them he only likes to pick on people that seem to be alone."

"Then I guess we're gonna have a bunch of repeat performances, I'm not really the type for friends, not like they stick around for long…"

Riley eyed her critically and Ellie felt herself shuffle under the scrutiny.

"You've got some trust issues new kid, you should work on that."

Riley stepped forward reaching for Ellie's book bag and depositing her things inside of it before stuffing her hands into her pocket.

"My name isn't new kid, it's Ellie." Ellie huffed

"Hmm Ellie, pretty name, fits a cute girl like you. My name's Riley, maybe I'll see you around." Riley winked at the red-head before walking off and Ellie was left standing there a light blush dusting her cheeks. As soon as Riley was out of sight Ellie rushed to her locker, looking at her locker info she took note of the combo, 35-30-31, and tried to commit the numbers to memory. Stuffing most of her stuff inside she patted her pocket looking for her walkman, panicking when she didn't feel the familiar lump, she quickly dug into her book bag but realized it wasn't there either. She remembers seeing Riley stuff her hands into her pocket and suddenly it clicks in her mind.

"Son of a-"

The homeroom bell rings, and Ellie vows to punch Riley right in her pretty face.

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 **MC:** So the prompt for this one was: Someone tripped me in the hallway and you're the only one that helped me up AU. Whoop I made this one under 1k (so it was 994 words but it still counts) way more drabbly than the first. Honestly writing less than 1kfor things is super hard for me, like physically painful. Anyways thanks for the reviews, favs, and follows, really makes a girl feel good. As for that multi-chap I was talking about I have officially written 55 words of the 1st chapter which is progress! (While I've written 3.5k for my other multi-chap story haha…) It'll get there eventually so at least you have something else to look forward to other than these drabbles. Till next time everyone!


	3. You're So Hot (hot damn)

This was fucking stupid.

Ellie yanks her hoodie on top of her head and huffs in frustration. She can't believe Joel signed off on this stupid trip, it was ridiculous. She knew from the moment she walked into that assembly and saw the words "bonding exercise" nothing good would come of it.

When her principal first suggested a camping trip to "help strengthen bonds and create a friendly and supportive community" Ellie knew that something bad would happen. What did they really think they were going to accomplish by making a bunch of teens who didn't want to like each other on a regular school day spend their weekend together?

Honestly sometimes adults were so freaking stupid.

Although she will admit the whole trip wasn't a total bust, she did enjoy the hiking trail; the view from the top of the mountain was pretty great. She and Sarah had taken a bunch of pictures to show Joel when they got back. Ellie had even taken a candid of Riley admiring the view a peaceful look on her face. She thought she had gotten away with it but Sarah caught her and proceeded to mercilessly tease her about her (glaringly) obvious crush. Ellie ignored her jabs and focused on a very important decision, whether she should make that picture her wallpaper or not. Despite Sarah's encouragement Ellie decided not to (although that didn't stop her from opening her gallery and starting at it every five minutes).

So not a total bust, but still exhausting and not the way she would be spending her weekend. Sarah was unsurprisingly optimistic about the whole thing but Ellie knew it was only because she knew her happy go lucky attitude got under Ellie's skin especially when she was upset. And right now she was pissed.

She had her bag packed and was patiently waiting with her Walkman for the buses to arrive. But when her principal walked in with snow covering his jacket clad shoulders she knew nothing good would come out of his mouth. She caught the words 'sudden cold front', 'snowstorm', and 'have to stay another day' Ellie instantly groaned and threw her face into Sarah's shoulder. Sarah patted her back sympathetically understanding her hatred of the cold, and they could already feel the temperature dropping in the log cabin. She was temporarily bright out of her despair when Riley approached them with a frown on her lips.

"I can't believe we're stuck here another night, I swear if I have to deal with another one Crawford's pranks I'm gonna smother him and his goons in their sleep."

Ellie couldn't help but chuckle and Sarah nodded in agreement, "They obviously didn't get the memo of this trip, we're supposed to get along not make people hate you more."

Riley snorts derisively and throws Sarah a wry look, "That would mean they would have to give a shit first. They all stand in silence for a moment and Ellie stuffs her hands into her pockets and huddles closer to Sarah trying to discreetly steal her warmth. Of course Sarah notices (she notices everything) and wastes no time gathering Ellie up in a hug that she halfheartedly tried to escape from, but she couldn't deny the slight comfort that bled past her jacket and heated her chilled skin. So she burrows deeper into the hug and pulls her hood tighter over her head.

Sometimes having a big sister was really nice.

"It's gonna be cold as hell tonight." She hears Riley say. Sarah's chest vibrates as she hums in agreement.

"I know you're not a fan of the cold, you gonna be okay El?"

Suddenly there's a hot comforting hand on her back and Ellie is happy that her, now flushed, face is hidden in Sarah's chest because she could not deal with Sarah's teasing and Riley's amused stare right now. So she nods even though it's a lie.

A chill runs up Ellie's spine and she hopes that this is as cold as it gets.

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Of fucking course it got colder, and the stupid log cabin didn't have any heating. Ellie burrows deeper into her thin blanket not that it was helping her shivering body. The first half and hour after light out was fine, the warmth she had stored up from moving around before was keeping her from feeling the chill too much. Then as time went on the biting cold from the blizzard began to creep into the cabin and Ellie felt goosebumps popping up all over her body, after the goosebumps came the slight shivering, and then the restless shuffling, and now Ellie's teeth began to chatter in protest.

How anyone else could possibly sleep at the moment was a mystery to her, she was basically turning into a human popsicle in her cot. She could just imagine the look on everyone's faces in the morning when they saw her frozen in her cot probably with a scowl on her face. It would make the news, headline it actually, _Local girl turns into human popsicle because her school had a team building exercise in the middle of a blizzard, tune in at seven to hear the details of this tragic story._ Ha! That'll show Joel to sign her up to go on any psychotic trip her school cooks up in the future. If she even has a future. She wonders if doctors would be able to thaw her out or if she would succumb to hypothermia.

Ellie is pulled from her internal monologue by the sudden appearance of a hand covering her mouth and a body hovering over her. Her body seized in fear but she couldn't help but think that this would be way better headlining material, _School bonding event causes students to snap and goon a murdering spree, more at eleven-_

"Jesus you really are freezing"

The warm and soothing voice of Riley invaded Ellie's ear and made her heart start pounding for a whole new reason.

"C'mon"

Riley removes her hand from Ellie's mouth and pulls on her arm. Still in a slight daze from her previous fright Ellie follows without any complaints.

And then they're lying down in Riley's cot and Riley is pulling Ellie close and wrapping her arms around the shorter girl and wow

Riley's hot

Well Ellie _knew_ that Riley was hot, it was one of the reasons she had this pathetic crush on her, it was also the reason Ellie somehow found herself making a fool of herself every time the older girl was around, but she wasn't talking about Riley's attractiveness (for once).

Lying next to Riley was like cuddling up in an electric blanket, it made her chilled skin prickle with warmth; she unconsciously burrowed closer to the warmth and let out a dreamy sigh. The laughter that followed brought her out her daze and caused flush to adorn her cheeks.

"Glad to see you're enjoying yourself, maybe now I can get some sleep without your chattering teeth keeping me up." Riley teased.

"Don't flatter yourself, I was fine, it was just a little chilly, nothing I couldn't handle. Besides I was just getting comfortable before you came and almost gave me a heart attack." Ellie admonished

"Well excuse me for trying to help you, if it's such an inconvenience you could go back to your cot" Riley challenged

"Whatever" Ellie muttered not willing to give up this warmth to win a stupid argument; instead she grasped the bottom of Riley's shirt and burrowed her face into the crook of the no doubt smiling girls' neck feeling secure and warm.

Ellie decided that Riley's smug grin and Sarah's knowing smile in the morning would be worth it.

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 **MC:** Whoo done, granted this was done a while ago but I was away and couldn't post. So here is another rellie drabbleish thing. These are super fun to do! Although I just realized how much restraint I have to have when I'm writing for characters I know curse, like I have to actively remind myself just because they do use explicits they don't swear like a pirate like I do, haha. Also if you guys come across any prompts and want to request one I'd be up for that!


	4. Breathe With Me

**MC:** I'm baaaaaack, from an extremely long writing hiatus, and I decided to start off with my drabble story instead of jumping into my chapter stories! So please enjoy! And the prompt for this one is, "I was out in public and had an anxiety attack and you left your friends to give me some chocolate and talk me through it, so tysm" so TW for a description of an anxiety attack

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Everything was spinning.

Her skin felt like it was aflame but her hands were clammy and sweating. Her ears buzzed and it hurt to keep her eyes open for too long.

Suddenly everything was too much.

The sun was too bright, the people walking around were too loud, and the smell of confectionary sweets from the shop she just left too sweet making her stomach roll in nausea and fear.

 _Calm down, you're okay, stop overreacting, it wasn't him, you're safe, you're okay, calm down Ellie, you can't just fall apart like this, there are people watching_

 _Oh god there are people watching, what are they thinking, they're probably angry, I'm probably in their way fuck I can just her them now, look at this stupid kid freaking out over nothing, she must be crazy something is wrong with her_

 _Calm down breathe, there's nothing wrong just calm down_

Ellie crumpled down into the fetal position and covered her ears trying to drown out the jumbled voices of the crowd around her that were no doubt cursing her entire existence. Her eyes rapidly moved left and right watching the crowd close in on her and everyone's face turn into a sneer as laughter trips past their lips.

Tears sting the corner of Ellie's eyes.

And then her breath hitched, air clogged in her throat trapped with a scream that wanted to escape. She closed her eyes so tightly the tears at the corner of eyes fell down her cheeks leaving hot tracks in their wake.

 _Shut up, shut up, shutupshutup_ _ **shutupshutup!**_

 ** _Leave me alone! I'm sorry just leave me alone!_**

 _"Breathe"_

Ellie's eyes shoot open wild and scared when she realizes the voice she just heard was not her own. Trying to swallow past her heart that was currently residing in her throat she settles her bouncing pupils on the person who was now sitting next to her. They had a smile on their lips and their eyes were peering at her with sympathy. Ellie's quickly zoomed in on their arm which had began to reach out for her but Ellie flinched away from the touch and curled in on herself even more whining pathetically.

Ellie hiccupped trying to breathe in again but she was still having a hard time. Her seatmate reached a tentative hand out again but Ellie was too focused on trying to get air into her lungs to shy away again.

Ellie's head felt light and started to spin as she continued to try to steady her breathing. Closing her eyes again she bit her lip trying to calm her still racing thoughts.

Ellie felt something brush against her arm which with her heightened senses made her shiver and goosebumps prickles her skin. A soft palm gently pried her clenched fist open and placed Ellie's still clammy hand against something warm and solid. Feeling the steady pulse of a heartbeat beneath her fingertips Ellie slowly opens her eyes again and observes the way her hand was splayed against the chest of the girl who had sat next to her.

"Just try to match my breathing, ok? We're going to breathe in count down from three then breathe out slowly okay?" Ellie clumsily nodded her head, heart still thudding quickly and painfully against her ribcage.

She felt the girls' chest rise as she inhaled and Ellie began to follow her lead.

 _In_

 _3...2...1_

 _Out_

 _In_

 _3...2…1_

 _Out_

 _In_

 _3…2...1_

 _Out_

Slowly but surely her lungs remembered how to work properly and her heart fell from her throat back to her chest where it belonged, her thoughts were clear as she focused on both the mysterious girl and her own rhythmic breathing and the low words of reassurance the other girl was mumbling.

"There ya go, you did great!" Ellie looked at the smiling girl and couldn't help the way her own lips quirked upward, albeit in a more shy and embarrassed manner. Clearing her throat and averting her gaze down to the concrete Ellie took her time to find her voice.

"Thanks…For, ya know…" Ellie feels embarrassment begin to suffocate her for breaking down in the middle of the street just because she thought she saw _him._

 _More like I thought I saw a ghost_ Ellie think bitterly to herself. Either way her cheeks heat up in shame. She takes back her hand that was still resting on the other girls' chest and tried to scramble to her feet. Unfortunately as she planted her feet on the ground her head spun and her legs buckled under her.

"Whoa there, slow down girly, you gotta take it easy." The girl caught Ellie by the waist and gently brought her back down to her sitting potion on the ground.

"Here I got something that should perk you right up"

The girl rummages through the pocket of her red sweater and produced two Hershey bars. Ellie looks at the offered candy suspiciously before she looks up into the other girls' brown eyes.

"I saw you," the girl begins as she unwraps one of the bars and hands it to Ellie who carefully takes it still unsure about the whole situation, "I was across the street with my friends, and I saw you out here pacing back and forth, you looked like you had a lot on your mind, I was going to head over to talk to you anyway but then I saw you huddle up on the ground. So I ran back into the store and bought you some chocolate, ya know with it being comfort food and all. Plus I figured you'd need a little dose of sugar to deal with the light headedness you're no doubt experiencing." The girl turns her gaze to the sky and nods to herself as if she was satisfied with her own explanation.

Ellie felt tears well up in her eyes from gratitude but blinked them away and instead nibbled on the chocolate in her hand.

"Do you have to be somewhere right now?"

Ellie looked at the girl next to her and shook her head no slowly.

"Do you want to go to the arcade with me? They have a new fighting game out that's supposed to be totally kick ass and has some of the best finishing moves since mortal combat. And one of the main characters is a total badass with knives attached to her hands and has does a sick aria finisher, her name is-"

"Angel" Ellie finishes her eyes lighting up in excitement, "I heard about the game, it's called _The Turning_ , I've been wanting to play it ever since it came out!" Both girls smile toothily at each other.

The brown haired girl stand up and offers Ellie her hand, the redhead accepts the help as she stands up slowly, still a little dizzy but feeling infinitely better.

With their hands still connected the other girl speaks again, "The names Riley"

"I'm Ellie"

Stuffing her hands in her red pockets Riley smirked at the shorter girl, "Well Ellie let's go don't wanna run into a long line."

The tanned girl turned on her heel and was about to start walking when Ellie gathered up her courage and called out to her.

"Riley wait!" said girl stopped in her tracks and turned back around, "Thank you for- for the uh chocolate… yeah thanks for the chocolate it really helped me out" Ellie says too embarrassed to actually thank her for talking her through her attack. But Riley seemed to understand anyway and gave her a knowing look.

"Anytime. Now come on last one there has to pay for the first round!" And with that the dark skinned girl took off down the block. With a smile Ellie stuffed the rest of her uneaten chocolate in her pocket and took off after her.

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 **MC:** Honestly whoever said drabbles were a thousand words or less can fight me. But anyways, thoughts? Have I lost my touch after my writing hiatus? I hope not. Also I've always wondered why you continuously tell yourself to calm down during a panic attack even though you know that you're trying but it's so hard and sometimes you just can't, and just telling yours self that just makes it worse. I think telling yourself to calm down is actually worse than when someone else says it to you.

I think next time I'm going to to one of those established relationship AU's cause I feel like writing the girls being cute together with the bonus of them being able to kiss and stuff. But as always if you see a prompt that you'd want me to write don't be afraid to ask!


	5. I've never truly loved till you put your

**I've never truly loved till you put your arms around me**

 **MC:** Ah yes, hello there lovely readers. Ehem, so remember how I said I wanted to do one of those established relationship AU's…. well you see, what happened was, A user named NightBlaze requested of me a tale of slight angst on Ao3. Tis' truly not that tragic, but I love me some angst so I'm gonna work my magic. *cricket chirps* Haha… yeah I'm kinda on a caffeine high, please ignore this entire authors note and enjoy the story *bows*.

 **Prompt** : "Just IMAGINE your otp being reunited after an apocalypse breakout, not knowing where the other was for a period of time, worrying the other was dead, imagine them running into each other's arms and squeezing each other in a hug that could last for hours and crying of happiness and relief, friCKING IMAGINE I DARE YOU I'm cRyiNg"

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You should have kissed her.

 _"What are we doing?"_

 _"You'll see"_

Your hands tighten into fists leaving unseen half crescent marks on your whitening hands. Jaw aching from the tension building there.

You paced the area of the small room (' _tch more like a prison'_ you thought with venom) that you had been placed in. Your skin was still slightly feverish and glistening from the hot flash you had broken into earlier. Your right arm throbbed as angry red welts bubbled up on the bite mark. Illuminated by the sliver of moonlight peeking in from the tiny window in the corner of the room you examined the wound.

You weren't sure how long you'd been locked up in here exactly but it had to be at least twelve hours.

And yet…

"What the fuck?"

Your skin was still the same complexion as before. To your surprise there were no signs of fungal growth around the bitten area. Actually it seemed to be scabbing over? And your mind was still as clear as it was when you first arrived.

"How long has it been? At least twelve hours in this hell hole and then another two to get here from the mall, and one hour before we decided to even get off our asses and come here… So fifteen hours?"

It was strange.

Everyone you knew of immediately declined in health, mentally or physically, sometimes both, during the first 5 hours, at least. They say it can take up to two days for stage one to take effect, but that was for only the really "lucky".

"Fucking figures I'd be slow to go… Heh that rhymed" a small smile appeared on your lips as you laughed at yourself. But no less than ten seconds later you were back to frowning.

Deciding to give your legs a break you collapsed back on the cold floor and stare up at the stone ceiling. Your mind drifted back to the mall, before everything went to shit…

 _Riley takes the well worn walkman and plugs it into one of the speakers. An upbeat song soon replaces whatever classical bullshit that was previously playing._

 _"Yeah!"_

 _You watch as Riley begins to bop along with the beat._

 _"What are you- really?"_

 _Riley climbs on top of one of the counters and continues her happy movements_

 _"Come ere'"_

 _You sigh in faux exasperation at the invite but don't hesitate to follow_

 _"Get your ass up here"_

 _"Ugh this is so stupid"_

 _The smiles in both of their voices negated any would be arguments._

 _After some probing from Riley you finally loosen up and dance with her as if you both didn't have a care in the world. And for a moment it felt like you didn't._

 ** _Oh, babe, I got you, babe, I got you, babe_**

 ** _Say, our love won't pay the rent_**

 ** _Before it's earned, our money's all been spent_**

 _"What is it?"_

 _You don't notice you stopped moving until Riley reaches for your hands. Your pull away from her touch and Riley instantly steps forward to close the distance between you._

 _"Hey, what's wrong?" Riley asked you gently. The way the brunette looked at you made the tears you had just pushed back well up in your eyes again._

 _Swallowing down the dangerous emotions you had kept under lock and key you muster up a half smirk and shove Riley's shoulder playfully._

 _"I'm just gonna miss hanging out like this with you" You turn around and blink rapidly to stop the stinging in your eyes. Hopping off the table you takes two steps away before turning back around to face Riley's frowning face, "But I know you gotta go."_

 _"Ellie-" the brunette tries to argue but you quickly shut her down._

 _"Riley, it's time"_

 _You head toward your abandoned backpacks without another glance._

 _The next thing you knew your name was being called out followed by a gunshot._

Tears spill over trailing from the corner of your eyes down your face.

You should have told her not to go. You should have begged and pleaded for Riley to stay in Boston. To stay with you.

You should have kissed her.

But you didn't.

Instead you walked away and got blindsided by Runners that had suddenly appeared in the mall. Riley was able to shoot the first two that were heading your way but a third one had managed to tackle you to the ground. But after some difficulty you managed to pull out your knife and escape its grip. Then Riley was there helping you up and guiding you out of the mall.

After escaping through an open window and carefully scaling down the side of the building you both collapsed on a rooftop trying to catch your breath. And after a beat you started laughing.

The adrenalin was fading from your systems and the sun was shining down on you, greeting you to a new day, and you were both alive and safe. So you laughed, in relief, in comfort, in happiness.

 _"Ya know, now I can kinda see why Marlene didn't want me hanging around you." You goad and Riley giggled in response._

 _"What was it you said earlier? Oh yeah, 'when have we ever gotten into trouble?' I guess that time is now."_

 _"It all worked out didn't it?"_

 _"Pshh, don't sound all cocky, the real hero today was Skeleseer, he was the one who said no one would die today. All hail Skeleseer and his divine blessings."_

 _"Shut up nerd"_

 _Riley nudged your arm and then let her hand trail down towards your own. But before she reached your sweaty but waiting palm she jerked her hand away as if she were burned. Your watch as Riley sits up looking panicked and you mirror the brunettes' movements._

 _"Riley, what's going on?"_

 _But the other girl wasn't even looking at you, her eyes were trained downward._

 _"Ellie," Riley slowly bringing her eyes up to meet your confused ones, "Ellie your arm…"_

You think about the rage you flew into using every explicit you knew, cursing everything and everyone, breaking whatever was lying around on the roof. Riley just waited quietly still sitting in the same spot and just watched you. Finally tiring yourself out you sat down next to Riley and cried.

It had been quiet between you for awhile before Riley had spoke up, offering a plan that had made sense to you at the moment.

You remember the grave look in Riley's eye and the pain in your voice when you questioned why she had suggested you go to Marlene even though you both knew you were doomed.

 _"I know it's stupid, and there is probably no way in hell that she can do anything, but… I just can't…"_

 _"Can't what?"_

 _"Sitting here, watching you turn, watching you suffer… that would be the worst, but I would do it for you, so you wouldn't be alone. But I sure as hell can't kill you Ellie. I refuse to put a bullet in your head. So please… don't ask me to do that."_

So you didn't.

Instead you made your way covertly across the city to the firefly base.

Marlene was livid, she paced back and forth, she yelled, she even punched Riley in the gut in her fit of rage.

But Riley just took it all in stride; she never flinched once even though you were sure at one point Marlene was going to kill your best friend. But instead after a long and heavy silence with Marlene just staring at the both of you she signaled two guards and told one to take you away and the other to escort Riley to the pickup zone.

Even after the cluster-fuck that was the other night Riley ending up having to leave you behind anyway.

Thoughts turning bitter you curl up on the floor of your impromptu cell and thinks for the umpteenth time

 _'I should have kissed her'_

 _._

 _._

 _._

You ghost a touch over your covered forearm. It's been three weeks and it's still hard to believe that the scarred and slightly raised skin hiding under your long sleeve shirt would just be the ghost of a terrible dream.

You were immune.

Holy shit.

You still remember the shock in Marlene's eyes when she opened the sliding hatch on the door and peered through expecting to see someone who had lost touch with their humanity. But instead she just found you huddled in the far corner, eyes red rimmed and thoroughly tired, dehydrated and starving, but decidedly still sane.

Obviously not trusting her eyes she had tentatively called out to you and received a weak reply in return. A hushed sound of shock had escaped from her lips but she had not let you out, still not convinced it wasn't a fluke. So she had left you in there for another day. And when she returned you were still just as uninfected as before but passed out from a mix of sleep deprivation lack of food and water.

Three days and no signs of infection. Your wound had still been red and tender but the flesh surrounding it hadn't mutated, but it would definitely leave a memory behind.

You had stayed in that room for the rest of the week but you was now given food and water; then after the seventh day you were allowed to leave. Marlene had brought your into a bone crushing hug and even the guards who were by your door seemed to be in high spirits.

News of your immunity spread through the base giving a surge of hope to everyone there. You were the answer to a vaccine that had been long in the making. You were the reason for them to keep fighting.

Plans were made to transfer Your to the new Firefly base they were setting up in Salt Lake City. Marlene had drawn her eyebrows together as if remembering something unpleasant, but you brushed aside any of your questions.

If you were honest with yourself, you were excited. It was easy to get caught up in the idea that you could actually help make a difference somehow. The only thing that would make this better was if you could share in the excitement with…

Riley

You wonder where she is, how she's doing, if she's been told that you're still alive and not some crazed being with a decaying brain running around or lying in a ditch somewhere. You had mustered up the courage to ask Marlene about her but she waved you're inquiries aside saying that she and her team were still making the trek to their new base. But every time you brought up Riley Marlene would get that same distasteful expression on her face that you had caught a glance of when she first told you that you were getting ready to leave Boston.

You secretly wonder if maybe this new base was the same one Riley was sent to but instantly squash the hope that began to take wing in your heart.

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Three weeks later everything is prepped for you to go. You head toward Marlene's office to tell her your bag is packed and your ready to leave but you hesitate outside her door when you hear a second voice.

"-agreed to finally sell you his cache of guns and is just waiting on you to close the deal"

"Finally. Stubborn bastard, I was beginning I should just shoot him and take his shipment as compensation for wasting our time."

"As for the escorts for the girl we have located your friends, and coincidentally enough they also have business with Robert so you'll most likely bump into them when you head over there."

"Really? What do they need from him?"

"Turns out he also promised that gun cache to them, and has already collected on their payment, but now he is trying to back out of the deal"

Marlene clucks her tongue

"Cocky prick, always knew he'd piss off the wrong people one day. Maybe I should shoot him and save my friends the trouble. Alright dismissed."

"Ma'am, there's one more thing"

"What?"

"The group you had sent to the new base have just arrived, but turns out there were some… complications"

"Well don't make me hold my breath, spit it out!"

"On the way they ran into some trouble with bandits and there were major casualties' ma'am. Of the twenty members you sent only 6 made it to the destination"

A heavy silence engulfed the room. You swallow past the lump that suddenly formed in your throat and subconsciously wonder why your palms began to sweat and your stomach lurched in fear. You press you're burning ear against the door and wait with baited breath for the muffled voices to say something, anything.

"I see" a pause "Who did we lose?"

You feel your heart pound with each name that is reported, barely able to hear them over the loudness of the organ. As he reaches the final five names your heart has already moved its way to your throat and your eyes were slammed shut.

"-Fields" **thump** "Montgomery" **thump** "Burkhart" **thump** "Simmons" **thump** "and Abel, Ma'am"

…

For a moment you swear your heart had stopped. Lead weighs heavily in your chest making it hard to breathe. You're eyes fly open and gloss over. And you flinch away from the door backing up until your back hits the wall on the opposite side.

No… maybe you heard wrong, or maybe there was someone else with that last name, there's no way it was Riley it couldn't be.

Tears slip past your lids and you don't even bother to catch them.

You quickly gather your backpack and slink back to your room to fall apart on your own.

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Twenty minutes later you don't even care about Marlene's impatient knocking at your door. It was better than having her find you in the hallway with red rimmed eyes and a broken heart.

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Time is funny.

One moment your being carefree with your best friend in the mall dancing like fools to the music on a walkman trying to ignore the fact that one of you was going to be leaving the state while the other would be left behind at the school.

And the next thing you know a year has passed you've basically made a cross country trek, with a once closed off and jaded man who has become someone precious to you, to find an anti-military group to possibly help them find a vaccine for a fungal pandemic.

When you stop and think about it it's kinda surreal, but then again you're living in a post apocalyptic world so at this point nothing can really sound too surprising.

At least that's what you thought.

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.

The walk back to Jackson was quieter than usual. Your thoughts were still tangled up with the events that happened back in Salt Lake, and you were frustrated that you couldn't remember what had happened and that Joel felt the need to lie to you about it. You're sure that whatever it was wouldn't even make you half as mad as the fact that he _swore_ to you and still lied, but dammit you trust him so you're willing to let it go. At least for now.

And honestly it was easy to bite back your questions especially when the sound of nearby gunfire could occupy your attention.

You and Joel immediately take cover behind the wall of the building you were about to walk past. Joel signals for you to stay put as he peeks around the corner, hands already reaching for his 9mm.

"Looks like bandits, but we should be able to sneak past them. Just follow my lead and stay low."

You nod and pull out the revolver Joel had found for you. It had a different feel than your pistol but if you couldn't adapt in this world then you don't make it very far.

With one last look Joel takes off toward the next building to take cover and you follow without any hesitation.

Another shot rings out followed by the sound of feet smacking against the pavement. You both move along the wall slowly keeping your senses on alert. You see another building across the street with a missing door and you know that's your next destination, then you could most likely get to higher ground in order to get a better grasp of the situation.

One of the bandits begins to speak and Joel takes their distraction as a chance to make it into the next building.

"Listen up kid, we just want the meds and you're really working on my last nerve, so just hand them over before I stop playing nice, ya hear"

You ready yourself to sprint across the street and join Joel, but the next voice to speak stops you dead in your tracks.

"Bite me asshole. Like I told you and your merry band of dipshits before. Fuck. Off."

Suddenly there's ice in your veins, your heart drops to your stomach and your head becomes light. You'd recognize that voice anywhere, but it's impossible, your mind has to be playing tricks on you.

You look over to Joel, whose face is pinched in worry, waiting for you. Not even taking a second to see if the coast was clear, you sprint across the street and grab onto Joel's arm.

"We have to help her" you demand in a harsh whisper

"Wha, Ellie d'ya hear yourself?"

"I know I sound crazy, but Joel trust me. We have to help her."

You see his face set into a familiar frown and you know he' just gearing up on some lecture on the five thousand reasons you _shouldn't_ do this, but honestly you don't have time to argue with him.

"Listen we don't have time for a discussion, I'm going to help that girl weather you help me or not, but it would be nice if you had my back." And without waiting for a reply you duck out of the building and into the alley way to your right following the voice of the obviously pissed off bandit leader.

"Damn brat is really becoming a huge pain in my ass. Screw it, just take her out, I'm through playing games."

You duck behind a car and drink in a big gulp of air. Steeling your resolve you peek over your cover and take a quick headcount of the bandits.

 _Okay, eight of them and one of me, no big deal Ellie, divide and conquer right?_

You jump a little in surprise when Joel suddenly drops behind the car too

"Listen, I don't know what's gotcha all riled up, but I ain't gonna let ya run in to this with no help."

You throw him a grateful smile and can't resist the urge to hug him so you quickly throw your arms around his neck and mutter out a thanks.

Now that you were both on the same page you move out working in the familiar rhythm you both had acquired, you provide a distraction in one direction making someone go investigate and Joel neutralizes the target which easily takes care four of the bandits. The last four which seemed to include the apparent leader however were staying grouped together so their divide and conquer plan wouldn't work.

You turn to Joel hoping he had another plan to fall back on but before you could even open your mouth you hear one of the bandit yell _get down_ and not two seconds later the sound of shattering glass and screams fill the air.

You both peek out to see what happened and your eyes widen when you see two of the bandits on fire and running around in panic while the leader and the final bandit try to get them to drop to the ground.

Before you could even think Joel had shot up and had already sunk two bullets in the two distracted thugs.

Breathing a sigh of relief you stand up making sure the coast was clear before making your way to the bandits were previously surrounding with your heart in her throat and ignoring Joel's calls.

Quickly sweeping the open area of the first floor and not seeing anyone you head toward the stairs skipping steps along the way. When you make it to the top you decide to head left and check the rooms in that direction. Slowing your pace down you place a hesitant hand on the first rooms knob. Gathering up your courage you twist the handle and push.

Peeking your head into the room you see it's full of boxes and nothing else, you silently curse and move on.

Each room turns out to be a bust and suddenly you're at the last door. With no hesitation you open the door and step halfway in. You quickly deem this room another dud but before you can step backward you feel something cool and solid press against the back of your head.

"Put your hands where I can see them."

Your heart skips 5 beats s it jumps up into your throat. Your muscles twitch as you rest the urge to spin around. Slowly putting your hands up you swallow dryly as you try to find your words.

"Riley?" Your voice is soft but is filled with a feeling you can't really put into words but you haven't felt since that day at the mall. Swallowing hard you call out again.

"Riley, i-it's me." You feel the pressure on the back on your head slacken a bit. "Look I'm gonna turn around now, so try not to blow my brains out kay?"

Slowly turning on your heel you come face to face with the girl you thought you had lost almost a year ago. A breath of fresh air fills your lungs as you lock gazes with familiar brown eyes that were glossed over with tears.

"Ellie?"

You bring a hand up and gently lower Riley's now trembling hand that still had a gun locked in her vice grip.

"Ya know you look pretty good for someone who's supposed to be dead." You joke as tears start to fill your own eyes.

Riley just chokes out a laugh, "That's rich coming from someone who's also supposed to be pushing up daisies." The older girl punches you in the shoulder before bringing you into a bone crushing hug. Melting into the embrace you bury your face into her neck not even minding the smell of sweat and dirt that clung to her.

The moment Riley's shoulders shuddered and you hear her hiccup in your ear you feel the damn holding your tears back burst as well. And now you're both standing here crying and sniffling like giant messes and you honestly couldn't be any happier. Your grip on the taller girls' waist tightens still not really believing that Riley was here in front of you.

You're pretty sure that you both could have stood there forever while embracing each other but your moments interrupted by a guff clearing of the throat. Looking over Riley's shoulder you see an awkward looking Joel standing by the stairs. Rolling your eyes at the man you sigh to yourself knowing that you'll have to break apart from Riley and you honestly didn't want to, but you guys should honestly get moving.

Even when you both disengage from your embrace you instantly grab Riley's hand not wanting lose total contact with her. Walking over to the scruffy Texan with a smile on your face you introduce him to the girl next to you.

"Joel this is Riley." His eyes widen in recognition of the name and looks to you to make sure he heard right. You nod at him and he brings his gaze back to Riley while scratching at his scruffy beard.

After a moment he tilts his head in acknowledgement and lets out an awkward "Nice to meet cha."

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Later that night after a lot of explanations and walking you all settle down for the night but you were too energized to sleep.

As soon as you were sure Joel was asleep you creep over to where Riley was lying. Knowing she wasn't asleep you tug at her hand, urging her off the ground. You both sneak off away from camp but not too far just in case.

The moment you both stopped walking you turn on your heel and plant a kiss smack on Riley's lips.

"I've wanted to do that for like a year now."

Riley looks at you with sparkling eyes and a smile on her lips and you know that you've made the right decision.

"Geeze what took you so long?"

She leans down and gives you another kiss before bringing you in for a hug.

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 **MC:** I just realized this is the first time they've kissed in this drabble series.

I hope this is to your liking NightBlaze. Honestly this one got away from me, like it was never meant to be over 3k words, it was originally just the last 600 words or so but then I felt like there had to be some minor world building, then I was like hmm maybe this should be a separate one-shot but then I was like nah, so you get this super long one-shot/drabble. And honestly I have a bad habit of writing a chapter out and then like not publishing it. I don't get it really, it's like I'll write 97% of it in like a day or two and put off the finishing touches for so long. I should work on that, and then you guys would get more updates. Also this was originally 3rd pov but as I kept writing I kept unconsciously slipping into 2nd pov, so I was like whatever let's go with it, so I hope it flows well like this :)

Last thing I'll say, did y'all see the trailer for tlou 2? Like bruh, I want older Ellie to punch me in the face and I'd say thanks. But besides that it looks good and I'm so excited!


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